Just-named Canadian commander of Libya no-fly zone is no softie

By Bill Mann

The Canadian general named this week to run NATO’s no-fly-zone over Libya is no soft touch — even though he was portrayed as cartoon Mountie Dudley Do Right on cable’s popular “Colbert Report” this week.

“Don’t expect a kinder, gentler mission just because he’s Canadian,” a senior Canadian officer who’s familiar withLt. Gen. Charles Bouchard’s previous role as deputy commander of NORAD, the joint U.S.-Canadian continental air defence pact, told the Toronto Globe and Mail.

Still, it didn’t help when Comedy Central’s Colbert, who probably does more Canadian material than any U.S. TV news — or faux-news — reporter or anchor, reacted to the announcement of the career military-helicopter pilot’s promotion in Libya with incredulity by saying.

“Lt. Charles Bouchard of Canada...Canada???

“Great,” mock-Fox Newscaster Colbert said.

“Instead of a No-Fly zone, we’ll get a No-Fly-Unless-You-Really-Want-to-And-We-Prefer-You-Didn’t-But-Go-Ahead Zone.”

That got laughs, but the hard truth is that Canadian military forces are still shedding blood and lives in Afghanistan. And among the Allied troops that landed at Normandy during D-Day, Canada incurred an even higher percentage of casualties than the U.S. Army. Canadians and their political leaders may be perceived as overly polite by Americans, but their troops are anything but.

This week, Bouchard announced that Canadian CF-18s had flattened another ammunition depot in Libya, and that Canada’s military has co-ordinated other coalition air raids over Libya involving up to 20 warplanes. It was the second ammunition dump taken out by the Canadian air contingent in a week.

The Libya assignment is Quebec native Bouchard’s first command. It’s part of a NATO military role that’s been divvied up, likely for political reasons. Explains the Globe and Mail:

Different countries, different commands

“As NATO takes over, the Canadian air force general will command most of the Libyan air war but not the nastiest bits – bombing ground targets and attacking Moammar Gadhafi’s tanks – reflecting an ongoing split in the alliance.

“Lieutenant-General Bouchard will initially run only the no-fly zone over Libya. An Italian admiral will command the multinational naval blockade offshore. The punishing and controversial bombing runs and air-to-ground strafing will remain under U.S. command until NATO establishes rules of engagement acceptable to reluctant alliance nations such as Germany and Turkey.”

Still, while Bouchard’s command elevation in the U.S.-led Libya campaign might have surprised many Americans, it didn’t surprise those who know Bouchard.

“Gen. Bouchard is one tough S.O.B.,” a former Canadian airman who served under him told a Vancouver radio station this week.

Bouchard is the former commander of Canadian air-force operations, but he has another — some would say distinctly Canadian — side that will serve him well in this unique combat-command role along with his military expertise.

“Among the senior military officers I’ve known over all my years he’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met,” said James Fergusson, director of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at the University of Manitoba, who has known Gen. Bouchard since he was a student. Fergusson told the Globe and Mail, “It’s a difficult position. Part officer, part politician. … You have to manage the interests of a variety of disparate countries.”